China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 4.4 percent year on year in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The growth rate was 0.4 percentage points lower than that of July, according to the NBS.

On a monthly basis, the industrial output rose 0.32 percent from July.

In the first eight months, industrial output rose 5.6 percent from the previous year, down from 5.8 percent registered during the January-July period.

Industrial output, officially industrial value added, is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.8 million U.S. dollars).

The August industrial performance was affected by factors including a complex external environment, ongoing structural adjustments and fewer workdays than the same month last year, said NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui.

High-tech manufacturing led the overall industrial output growth with its 6.1-percent increase, putting the figure for the January-August period at 8.4 percent.

In a breakdown by ownership, the output of state-controlled enterprises went up 4.1 percent year on year in August, that of joint-stock companies went up 5.3 percent, and that of overseas-funded enterprises increased by 1.3 percent.

Manufacturing output rose 4.3 percent year on year last month, and output of the mining sector rose 3.7 percent.

Monday's data also showed China's fixed-asset investment grew 5.5 percent year on year in the first eight months, 0.2 percentage points down from the January-July period. Retail sales of consumer goods rose 8.2 percent year on year, also a slight dip from the first seven months.

Fu said economic performance in the January-August period was generally stable with continued momentum for growth.